EE Brings Customer Service Back To UK And Ireland
EE creates 600 new jobs as it hopes customer service will give it an advantage over rivals
EE aims to return 600 customer service jobs to the UK and promises every single query will be answered from centres in the UK and Ireland by Christmas.
One hundred jobs will be created in economically “challenged” areas, specifically Darlington, Merthyr Tydfil, North Tyneside, Plymouth, with the locations of another 500 positions will be revealed by the end of the year.
Most of the positions to be repatriated involve support for EE’s pay as you go and home broadband services. The company says it has returned 1,400 jobs over the past year, improving customer satisfaction rates by a half.
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EE customer service
Although employing workers in the UK will be more expensive, EE said it should result in fewer calls, better service – reducing costs in the long run. Allera suggested increases to monthly tariffs would not rise as a result.
“All of our service for EE customers is coming back to the UK,” said EE CEO Marc Allera. “We’ve brought a lot of roles back to the UK but I wanted something definitive.
“I think it’s great that we’re creating opportunities for young people and in challenging areas. I think that will make a big difference.”
In total, EE has between 6,000 and 7,000 customer service representatives and the move follows parent company BT’s decision to create 1,000 new UK-based jobs earlier this year in a bid to answer 80 percent of all queries from the UK. However there are no plans to merge customer service operations with BT.
EE has also announced plans to expand network coverage to 95 percent of the UK’s landmass by the end of the year. Allera said the two measures will provide EE with a significant advantage over its rivals O2, Vodafone and Three.
“You have to make investment choices and I can’t think of two better choices [than network coverage and customer service],” he said. “We operate in a competitive market with some of the lowest prices in Europe and I think it’s going to get more competitive. We have to offer value for money and we want more customers to join EE.”
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